Circuit-breaker.



R. woLFsBERG a s. c". SMITH.

CIRCUIT BREAKEH.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4. 19|?.

, 1,253,761 Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

2 SHElTS-SHEET I.

R. WOLFSBERG S. C. SMITH.

CIRCUIT BREAKER.

AFPLICATICN FILED APRA. 19H. 1,253,761. Patented Jan.15,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

In veuf() raf.'

y 7b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RICHARD Wonrsnne and SIDNEY C. SMITH, both citizens of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Circuit-Breaker, of which the following isv a specification.

An object of this invention is to insure the safetyfrom electric shock of the person operating the circuit breaker and changing the fuses of said circuit breaker.

Another object is to effect the foregoing by a simple and reliable construction.

Other objects `and advantages will appear in the subjoined detail description.

The` accompanying d'rwings illustrate the invention:

.Figure 1 is a. front elevation of a circuit breaker built in accordance with this inven-4 tion, the parts beinginthe positions they occupy when the circuit breaker is open' and the fuses are exposed to View.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the circuit breaker, the parts being shown in the circuit closing positions.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, the case being in section on line indicated by w32-m, Fig. l.

Figli is an elevation corresponding to Fig. 3 excepting that the 4parts are in the circuit closingpositions as in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5'is aplan section online' indicated by www", Fig." 4.

` Fig. 6 is asectional detail. on lineindiand its operatin Fig. is a perspective View of the shield member.'

There is provideda housing of any suit-V able construction, inthe drawings -said housing being in the form o'a rectangular case comprising a top 1', bottom 2, sides 3, 1, back 5 ,and front "The front 6 is detachable and 'for this purpose is of separate construction fromthe top, bottoni and sides of the case and is fastened by screws 7 or equivalents to the sides and bottom of the esse.

. @The front 6 comprises two sections, a

lower stationary section 8 which is hxed in place by the screws 7 and an upper movable section forming a door 9 which is hinged or pivoted at 1 0 tothe lower section v8.-so that it may .he swung outward at an angle to the The door 9 may be sition, and for this ur ose the to .1 of the caseis provided at its orward e ge with al UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

locked in closed RICHARD WOLF-sanno .um SIDNEY c. SMITH, or Los ANGELES, oanniomn...1 l

CIRCUIT-Bananen.

PatentedfJan. 15,1918.

Application and Api-114,191?. serial ma. 159,646. i i

vforwardly projecting ,hasp 11 having downwardly projecting shoulder 12 forming.

an abutment adapted to extend in frontoi'-l the door when in .closed position so as to'hcld said door closed. The hasp 11 is also'provided with a perforation 13 through which a suitable lock 14 may be fastened to prevent too ready opening of the door'. Owing to the hasp 11 being bendable, in an emergency said hasp when the lock 14 is in-l locking position, may be bent upward sufficiently to allow the door to be opened, without removing the lock.

When Ithe door 9 is in open position as in Fig.`3 it may be locked in such position, and for this purpose the door -9 is provided with an arm 15 extending at an angle to the plane, of said door and `having -a perforationpl adapted, when the"door is in the position shown in Fi 3, tore ister with Vanother perforation 1 in one o the sides 3 of-'thc case. The hasp 11 and may be inserted through the perforatiolis 16 and 17, thus locking the door against. closing.

Fastened to the structed of suitable insulation material such,

for instance, as slate or the like, saidobase being fastened to the door by screws 18 `or equivalents.

Mounted 20 and switch contacts 21, 22.. The fiiseon blades` 23, 24 of fuses 25. Thus'fthe fuses 25 ma be readily detached and new ones in-v sta led in place thereof when replacement becomes desirable or necessary. Thecontacts 19, 21 are electrically connected V'to-i lock 14 may be removed from theV door 9 yis a vbaseA 18 oon- `on the base 18, and insulated thereby from the door 9 are fuse contac t s ;1 9,

gether and the contacts2-0, 22 are electrically" connected together and for this purpose the contacts 19, 21 may be made integral with?" one another as may also the contcts20f22 as shown in the drawings. i

When the door 9 is in closed position as in Fig. 4; the contacts 21 engageupper station-` ary` contacts 26 which project downward l from an Insulation block 27 fastened on the inside of the top 1 ofthe case. Also when` the door is in sald closed'position thecon'tact 22 'engages a lower stationary contact 28 Inounted Aon an'insulation member 29 which is suitably fastened to the bottom 2 ofthe case. Thus the contacts 26, 28 are insulated iin from the case and said contacts may be furin this cated, if desired, and the contacts 21, 22 be in the form of blades so as to be embraced by the furcations of the contacts 26, 28 ina manner well understood in the art. When the door 9 is in open position as in Fig. 3 the inner end of the base 18 projects into the case to the rear of the hinge 10 to form a stop or abutment 30 which en ges a shield 31 that ma be in the form o a flat plate and that is iinged o-r ivoted at 32 to the back5 of the case. T e hinge 10 as shown may be below the level of the hinge 32 so that'when the door 9 is in open position with the plane of the shield 31 coinciding with the plane of the door=9 said door 9 and shield 31 willextend aslant downwardly andA forwardly. When the door and shield are positionthe space a inside of the case beneath. .the .shield 31 is inaccessible, the shield 31 absolutely preventin the operator of the device from gettin his lia-nds or tools in said space. The shiel 31 hangs vertical when the door is closed. i

Operating means are provided for the shield 31 so that it will be automatically moved into shielding position when the door is being opened, and for this purpose the shield 31 is provided with an arm 33 extending at an angle to said shield. This arm 33 projects forward from the shield 31 when the shield is out of. commission as in Fig. 4

is in the first and may be in the form of a loo as shown c learly'in1 Figs. 5 and 6 and sai loop projects into the ath .of movement of one of the switch bla es ,22 so thatwhen the door 9 said blade will be inserted through the loop which thus becomesv hookedover the blade.

to describe in detail-herein.

As additional shock absorbing meansl the arm 15 may be attached, as shown in the drawings, to one end of a spring 35 which has its opposite' end fastened to ,the -side 3 or other suitable part of the case.

` When the device 1s in use, the parts when in the circuit-closing positions will be in the positions1ii1dica-ted11n Figs. 2 .and 4. When it is desired to open the circuit,the operator will release tl e-locklt and open the door 9, thus moving; the contacts 21, 22 out of engagement With the contacts 26, 28 respectively so as-to break .the circuit. Preferably the door will be opened suilicicntly farto engage the contacts 2.2 with the contacts 26,

according to the service for part of its opening movement when the movable. section is 'stood in the art and therefore notnecessarythereby mhold uw door securely in' sluiting position as in Fig.l 3 so that the fuses can be readily renewed. If linemen are working on the wires, not shown connected with the device, the operator will preferably place the. lock 14 through the perforations 16, 17 so as to lock the parte 1n circuit breaking position, thus preventing accidental or unforeseen closure of the door 9 and consequently of the circuit.

An important feature of the invention now becomes apparent for if any of the fuses 25 have blown out the blown out fuse may y be readily removed and a new one inserted in its place in a manner well understood, 80 the construction being such that it is im'- possible for the operator orany one else to insert his hands or tools into -the space a containingthe contacts 28. Thus it is im possible, when the circuit breakerA is open, to short the circuit between .the contacts 26` -28 or between tle contacts 28 and the earth.

In the drawings three sets of the contacts 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 28 and fuses 25 are shown so as to produce a three-pole circuit breaker. However, it is understood that one set or any other number of sets may be employed which the circuit breaker is to be used. l

The foregoing will enable those'skilled in the art to which the invention appertains to make and use said invention, and 1t is understood that the invention is not limited to the exact embodiment shown in the drawings and herein before described but is only limited within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. We claim:

'1, A circuit breaker comprising aA case having a movable section and a stationary portion, contacts for the stationary portion, contacts on the movable section adapted to engage the stationary cont-acts respectively' in closedV position, and means to hold themovable section4` aslant when open, said means including a shield adapted to 'extend rearward from the movable section when the movable section 1n. open. position. i

2. A circuit breaker comprising "a 'case 1 15 iliaving a: door, stationary contacts in the case, contacts-on the d or electricallyi'connectedA to one `another and adapted toengagc l 4the statidnarycontacts vwhen the' door.v 1s closed, 'and a shield in the case separate120 from the door operative by opening of .the door to position between the stationary contacts. l 3. A circuit: :breaker comprising a case, the front of'ttlie caselcomprising astationary and a movable section, stationary contacts 'in the case, means operative by movement in one direction of the movable sectionV to Separate the spacev containing one of the stationary' contacts' fromthc space containing 130 iis the other stationary contact, and contacts niounted on the movable section to engage the stationary contacts Wlientbe movable section moved in the opposite direction.

li. A circuit breaker comprising a case, the front. ot the case comprising a stationary and a movable section, stationary contacts in tbe case, means operative by movement in one direction of the movable section to separate the space containing one of the sta tionary contacts from the space containing the other stationary contact, contacts mount ed on the movable section engageable with the stationary contacts respectively when the movable section is moved in the opposite direction, and means including a fuse connecting the contacts of the movable section with one another.

A circuit breaker comprising a case haring a movable section and a stationary portion, stationary contacts in the space inside of the case, means including fuses for the movable sectionto close the circuit from contact to contactwhen the movable section is in cl'osed position, and means op crative by opening movement of the mov able sectionto separate the space containing one of the stationary contacts from the space containing the other stationary contact.

6. A circuit breaker comprising a case having a movable section and a stationary portion, means including a stationary conable section to close an electric circuit when. the movable section is in closed position, and moana operative by opening movement of the movablescction to position between the stationary and movable contacts to obstruct access to the stationary contact.

T. A circuit breaker comprising a case having a movable section and a stationary portion, means including a stationary con'- tact in the case 'and a contact and fuse on the movable sectionto close an electric circuit when the movable sectionis in closed position, vand means operative by opening movement ot' the movable section to position between the stationary contact and fuse to obstruct access to the stationary contact.

S. A circuit breaker comprising a case, haring a stationary portionand a movable the door and' partly catepol tact in the case and a contact on the movr on the stationary portion for closing an electric circuit when the door is closed, the portion of the circuit-closing means on the door including infuse, and a shield operative into position when the door is open to shut olf a portion of the interior of the case containing one element of the stationary portion of the circuit-closing means.

-9. A circuit 4breaker comprising a case having a door, oppostely disposed stationary contacts in'tlie case, contacts on the door connected with one another and engageable with the first named contacts when the door is closed, a shield pivoted in the case, and means fastened to the shield and projecting into the path of movement of one of the contarts on the door to swing the shield into position to close the space containing one of the stationary contacts.

10. A. circuit breaker comprising a case having its front in sections, one of said sections being stationary and the other section lgieing hinged thereto, tionary contacts one of said stationary contacts hinge, and a shield pivoted in the case above the level of the door hinge andoperative by opening of the door to close off the space below the level of the door hinge from the space above the level of the pivot of the shield.

11. A circuit breaker comprising a case having its front in sections, one of said-sections being stationary being hinged thereto, contacts mounted on the door, means including fuses connecting said contacts with one another, a shield pivoted to the back of the case and normally hanging vertically, an arm projecting Iforward into the path of movc mentJ of one of the contacts, and other stationary contact" in the case engageable by the contacts on the door when said door is in closed posiion.

Signed at I is Angeles day of March 1917.,

`RICHARD WoLFsBnnc.

sinner c. SMITH.

in the case,

California, this'26 Witi'iesses l GEORGE t HILEs, A. F. SGHMIDTBAUER.

contacts mounted on' 4the door and connected together, other stabeing below the level of the A and the other section.

on the shieldv DISCLAIMER.,

1,253,761.-R'chord Wolfsberg and Sidney (F. Smith, Los Angeles, Calif. Cxacmr- Baaaxma Patent dated January 15, 1918. Disclaimer filed August 2, 1919, by the amiguee, Kraatz Manafbcturi'ng Compa-ny, Inc.

' Hereby enters this rdisclaimer- To the sub ect-matter contained in the hereinbelowqoted claims 2, 6, and 10 so far astheviolfsberg and S'mitli patent is concerned: .L

2. A circuit breaker comprising a case having a door, stationary contacts in the case, contactson the ,door electrically connected to one another and ada ted to engage the stationar contacts when the door is closed, and a shield in t e case separate from the oor operative by opening of the door to position between the stationary contacts.

"6. A circuit breakercomprising a case having a movable section and a stationary portion, neans including a stationary contact in the case and a contact on the movable section to close an electric circuit when the inw/able section is in closed position, and means operative by opemnlgmovement ofthe movable section to posi ion between the stationary and movab e contacts to obstrct access to the stationary contact.

10. A'circuit breaker com rising a case having its front in sectionsfone of said sections being stationar an the other section being hinged thereto, contacts mounted on the door an connected Vto ether, otherstatlonary contacts in the case, one of said stationar contacts bein? elow the I'evel of the hinge, and a shield pivoted in the case a ove the' level o the door hinge and o erative by o ening of the door to close off the space below the level of t e door linge from t e space above the level of the pivot of the` shield.

[ojml Gazeae August 12, 1919.] 

